Lead Robotics Engineer

Proto-Town; Lockhart (SC); On-site; USD 140,000 - 200,000; Full time

Job summary

Proto-Town in the United States is seeking a Lead Robotics Engineer to own the legged system from concept to prototype. You will shape architecture, actuation, and locomotion control for a quadruped robot designed to carry a human rider.

The role centers on mechatronics: motor control, power electronics, embedded firmware, and real-time targets using C++ and Python. Experience with EV powertrains or high‑power motion hardware is highly valued.

Qualifications

• Experience in EV and e-mobility powertrain work.
• Shipped high-power motion hardware you designed yourself.
• Strong background in motor control and power electronics.

Responsibilities

• Own architecture for legged system from concept to prototype.
• Oversee actuation strategy, prototype hardware, and locomotion control stack.
• Collaborate across mechanical design, motor control, and power electronics to deliver a working system.

Skills

Mechatronics

C++

Python

Real-time control

CAN/EtherCAT

Embedded firmware

Tools

CAN

EtherCAT

Job description

Lead Robotics Engineer - Legged Systems

The role

We are building a legged quadruped robot that carries a human rider, starting from scratch. There is no platform to modify, no reference design to scale up, and no prior program here to inherit. You would be the technical owner of the machine as it comes into existence: architecture, actuation strategy, prototype hardware, and the locomotion control stack.

What we’re looking for

The center of this role is mechatronics: you work across mechanical design, motor control, and power electronics without handing off at the boundaries

• High-power electronics: Multi-kilowatt DC bus architecture, motor drive and inverter design or deep integration, battery pack and BMS selection, and the thermal design that keeps all of it alive under sustained load.

• Motor control: Field-oriented control, torque control, encoder and current sensing, and real-time firmware on embedded targets.

• Actuation: High torque-density drivetrain design: motors, gearboxes, backdrivability, and the tradeoffs between them.

• Fluency in the practical stack: C++ and Python, a real-time control target, CAN or EtherCAT, and a simulator you trust and know the limits of.

Backgrounds that tend to fit

We are looking for people with experience in EV and e-mobility powertrain work, motor drive and inverter design, industrial servo and actuator manufacturing, or legged robotics. What matters is that you have shipped high-power motion hardware you designed yourself.